Can I use a "braker" of different make?

My electric panel was made by GE and I can not find GE circuit brakers that fit my panel (the panel is old). I found that "murray" makes circuit brakers that fit and today I replaced one braker with the murray braker and it fit fine and the ligths work. The sales man at the electric store asked me if any inspector was going to check the braker panel? this led me to believe that maybe I'm not supposed to mix different brands?...I also need to add a 50 amp braker for a hot tub... is it ok to use the murray brakers on a GE panel?

Thanks

 

First of all, walk away from any salesman who asks you if the work will be inspected. Whether or not it will be inspected has no bearing on whether it is safe or legal.

That said, it is possible to use breakers from other manufacturers as long as they are listed for use in the panel you have. With that in mind, it may be helpful if you can post the model of your GE panel.

 

Tony

keep in mind that even if the specific manufacturer states in can be used in your panel. it still voids the UL listing for your panel (at least thats my understanding). this is probably a subject thats going to be debated either way, so ill get it started and maybe we can all learn something new.another thing you didnt mention was aic rating of the replacement breaker. hopefully you are not mixing those ratings as well.

 

is the aic rating 'written' on the braker?....what can happen if the rating is not the same?....can I install "sub-panel"? would that help? thanks....

 

the aic rating is on the breaker. The aic rating on a breaker is the amount of fault current that your breakers can handle for a short period of time. the utility companys usually determine this by calculating the maximum amount of fault current that your panelboard can potentially receive from them. just think of this way, when there is a fault current you are going to have thousands/ tens of thousands potentially going to your panel. do you want your breakers not to be able to handle that high current. so the aic rating is very important and code!!. a sub-panel also has to have the same aic rating unless you know and understand about series rating. I hope i havent made it to confusing on you im not as good as some of the guys here at explaning things.